Step aside, celebrity book clubs – it's Barack Obama's turn to share his favorite books of the summer.
Twice a year, the former president lets Americans into his leisurely pastimes, sharing a list of curated books, movies and music he loved most. Last summer, Obama highlighted "Martyr!" by Kaveh Akbar and "The God of the Woods" by Liz Moore, two 2024 bestsellers. He also chose "James" by Percival Everett, which went on to win the National Book Award.
This year, Obama's post comes alongside an announcement of a new Chicago Public Library branch at the Obama Presidential Center, an ambitious 19-acre project that opens next year.
Obama's summer reads include a mix of fiction and nonfiction, including a buzzy new political title. He highlighted Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson's "Abundance," a proposed playbook to move away from current political structures and national scarcity toward a "politics of abundance."
"A must-read for progressives who want a blueprint for reforming government so it can deliver for working people," he wrote of the book.
